Gathering Places
Gathering Places
A new study by the National Institute of Justice estimates that up to 400,000 children and youths in the United States become victims of pornography, prostitution and trafficking each year. Thousands of these victims are boys and girls here in Hawaii. The problem is so significant that even most law-enforcement and child-welfare officials do not realize its scope. Hawaii isn’t immune to
the most hidden
form of child abuseAs executive director and founder of Sisters Offering Support (SOS), I participated in several research interviews with Dr. Richard Estes for this report. The study confirms much of what we've known for the past six years about the problem of commercial sexual exploitation in Hawaii, which is a problem of child abuse.
Estes says: "Child sexual exploitation is the most hidden form of child abuse in the U.S. and North America today. It is the nation's least recognized epidemic." He is a professor of social work at the University of Pennsylvania and author of "The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico." The three-year project was funded by the National Institute of Justice of the U.S. Department of Justice, the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Fund For Nonviolence and the Research Foundation of the University of Pennsylvania.
The Fund for Nonviolence also supports the work of Sisters Offering Support. Through our Youth Prevention Program surveys of youth in Honolulu, ages 12-21, we found that 1 in 5 young people felt that someone had tried to recruit them into commercial sexual exploitation.
This is alarming, yet this is the same statistic found by agencies in New York that make presentations to youth in public and private schools. Various local agencies in Hawaii estimate up to 10,000 youths are involved in the sex trade on Oahu.
"The largest of these groups are runaway, thrownaway and other homeless children who use 'survival sex' to acquire food, shelter, clothing and other things needed to survive," Estes said. A substantial number of children living at home are also involved in commercial sex. Many live in secure middle-class homes but few parents are aware of their children's involvement in pornography, stripping or prostitution. SOS has found this to be true in Hawaii, based on our experience and reports from youths and victims.
Commercial sexual exploitation can happen to any child, anywhere -- solely because he or she is a child. No child is invulnerable to this exploitation and every child is a target for predators. SOS provides services to women and children age 12 and older with clients coming from all over the island including Kahala, Hawaii Kai, Kaimuki, Waikiki, Mililani and Waianae.
"These children are solicited for sex repeatedly by men, many of whom are married and have children of their own," Estes said. "Like other groups of sexually exploited persons, street children are exposed to violence, drug abuse, rape and, sometimes, even murder at the hands of the pimps, 'customers' and traffickers that make up their world."
Just as the exploited children come from all parts of society, so do the predators who pay kids for sex. As a community, we need to acknowledge that these predators include the men we know and love -- our fathers, husbands, boyfriends, brothers, uncles, sons, friends and co-workers.
Other customers are transient males, including members of the military, long-haul truck drivers, seasonal workers, conventioneers and sex tourists. Unfortunately, a high demand for "child sex for sale" has been created in the islands due to a climate of toleration and acceptance of the sex industry.
Everyday, thousands of local kids are being hurt by what happens behind closed doors in the strip clubs, massage parlors, hostess bars, escort agencies, hotel rooms and bedrooms.
They are scarred physically, emotionally and sexually, sometimes for life, by "customers," pimps and traffickers who are buying, selling and renting out our daughters.
Kelly A. Hill is executive director of Sisters Offering Support whose purpose is to combat sexual exploitation.